MasterCard Invests in Nigeria’s Cashless Initiative

MasterCard is playing a crucial role towards building a cashless society in conjunction with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the region. Omokehinde Ojomuyida, MasterCard Country Manager for West Africa, told The Sun that banks have invested a great deal in infrastructure in Nigeria deploying lots of POS terminals and other devices that will drive a cashless economy. There has also been a change in merchants’ behavior who are now accepting payments through POS terminals.

In a recent interview with the Daily Sun, Ojomuyida revealed that although most Nigerians are still afraid of carrying out electronic transactions, this fear started from the days when cards could be cloned due to the use of outdated magnetic strip cards technology. With modern technology in place, she says where chip and pin technology and the verve cards are used, it has become very difficult to clone cards or hack into encrypted card numbers.

She concludes that: “Card payment has come to stay in Nigeria, but that is not the only way to do electronic payment. There is mobile payment, contactless payment, which enable financial transactions without the use of cash.”